Capcom CPS Changer
In the 1990’s, SNK took a chance at bringing their arcade games to the home
console market by creating the Neo Geo AES system. The home system garnered a
niche fan base despite it’s high price tag.
In 1994, Capcom saw an opportunity to venture into this niche home market.
Gamers enjoy popular arcade titles without Capcom having to pay royalties for
"lower quality" home conversions on other systems. Not a bad idea!
Rather then recreating their CPS-1 arcade board packs for home market use,
Capcom created an adapter that could interface with existing boards. The Capcom
Power System Changer (or CPS Changer) plugged into the arcade board CPS-1 JAMMA
connectors. It provided two joystick ports, TV composite video output, TV
S-Video output, and an 8 channel mono audio output (no stereo sound).
Obviously the CPS Changer requires the arcade board, So Capcom sold the
adapter in a package deal. The package containing CPS Changer, one CPS Fighter
controller, and the Street Fighter II Turbo arcade board sold for 39,800 yen.
Other compatible arcade boards could be purchased for 20,000 for a single title,
2 for 38,800 and 3 for 55,000 yen. The CPS Changer worked with the following
titles:
- Captain Commando
- Muscle Bomber
- Muscle Bomber 2
- King of Dragons
- Capcom Quiz World 2
- Knights of the Round
- Final Fight
- Tenshi wo Kurau 2
- Street fighter 2
- Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Due to the high cost of using CPS Changer, and the fact that home console
conversions were reaching near perfect arcade quality, sales began to dwindle.
By March of 1996, Capcom had dropped all support for CPS Changer.
 FACT: Capcom decided to give owners one last hurrah for purchasing their product. Capcom released a special conversion of their CPS-2 arcade board title Street Fighter Zero for CPS Changer. The game was rewritten with reduced sound samples, and color depth. It was sold for 35,000 yen as a farewell gesture.
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